He was sending me a sparkling gaze as if telling me to open the gift right away, so it seemed difficult for Kishian to refuse.
I was about to start eating when I put down my utensils and took the gift back from the servant's hand.
Then I took it apart and looked at it.
I was startled as I looked at the contents with him.
'It's a glass craft...'
Coincidentally, Letie's gift was a glass animal craft similar to the one I had purchased for Kishian.
Unlike mine, which was a black rabbit, Letie's was a golden puppy.
The size was similar, but somehow I felt it was a little cuter than mine.
Letie explained in a bright voice.
"I was looking around the festival and happened to see a really cute Item being sold. I thought it would be nice to give it to you, Grand Duke. Do you like it?"
"I like it. I will keep it well."
Unlike Kishian, who responded with a smile, I couldn't smile.
I wanted to give it to you first, but I ended up losing the player to Letie.
So, it seemed like giving him my gift later wouldn't make him smile.
Anyone would feel indifferent if they received something similar to a gift they had already received.
"..."
I picked up the cutlery, trying not to show my hurt feelings.
The servant poured wine into the empty glass.
"It was a really fun time because there was so much to see. Oh, I also saw a play, and the content was quite interesting."
"A story about Lissenblume?"
When I asked, Letie nodded.
"The story of the guardian of the flowers and the fairy in Lissenblume. The actors were beautiful, so it was fun to watch. However, I didn't quite understand the fairy's actions."
When Kishian took a sip of his wine and asked. "Is that so?" Letie answered as if she had been waiting for him to ask.
"Why couldn't the fairy believe in Lian's love? Even though he confessed so earnestly."
It was the exact opposite of what I felt.
I swallowed the meat I was chewing and replied appropriately.
"You must have been hurt a lot in the past. If you've given your heart to someone and been hurt many times, it's hard to trust them."
"Is that so? I don't know. I just feel bad for Lian."
Yes, it might be difficult for Letie to understand.
Because she will never have the experience of opening her heart and then being betrayed.
That's why it's easy to trust and love someone.
I suddenly felt envious of that purity.
"Did Your Highness see the same play yesterday?"
"Yes, I saw it."
"What do you think?"
Kishian seemed to think for a moment, then gave a short answer.
"It's a similar feeling to yours, Princess."
It may have been an answer given without much thought.
But the moment I heard that, I fell into a deeper depression.
So I didn't participate in the conversation and just focused on eating.
Kishian seemed to sense that I was not feeling too well and continued to talk to me, but I didn't have many opportunities to respond.
That was why Letie answered in my stead every time.
From the middle, the conversation only took place between the two of them, leaving me out.
At that point, I had no choice but to admit it.
I also didn't like the excessive attention Letie showed to Kishian.
It was really unpleasant for Letie to hear Kishian respond and agree with her.
I was so deeply consumed by a depression that I had forgotten about for a while that I couldn't even taste food.
"What's wrong? It seems like you haven't had a proper meal."
After finishing the meal, Kishian returned to the bedroom and shook his head at the question he had asked.
"I just had no appetite. Don't worry about it."
"You don't have an appetite. I heard you ate well this morning."
I didn't know that the maids were still reporting my food intake to Kishian.
I explained with a slightly embarrassed look.
"Even if you had an appetite in the morning, you might not have one in the evening. Anyway, you sat down until the end, right? Don't worry about it too much."
I had once gone back to my room during a meal because I felt bad, so this time I wanted to stay until the end.
So I kept shoving my food in and waiting for the time to end.
It was a long and lonely time.
I returned to my room only after finishing my meal and eating dessert.
I was so tired that I wanted to hurry up and wash up and go to bed, but Kishian wouldn't let me.
"Let's send her out tomorrow."
He said such strange things while stopping me from lying down on the bed.
When I showed signs of confusion because the beginning and end were omitted, a more detailed explanation was added.
"We are going to send the Princess back to the palace tomorrow."
You could tell from the luggage she brought that Letie had come with the intention of staying for quite some time.
But let's send her out...
"No, that's not necessary. It's not my sister's fault that I have no appetite."
"Then whose fault is it?"
"It's no one's fault."
"Lies. If you don't tell the truth, you will be punished."
"What kind of punishment..."
"Something like this."
Suddenly, he bent his head toward me, bit my earlobe with his teeth.
It wasn't a painful bite, but it was very sudden and ticklish.
As I tried to pull away in surprise, a strong hand pulled my body into a hug.
In that state, he began to nibble and bite the tender flesh as if telling me to try it.
"Yes! Stop it! I'll be honest with you!"
I knew that if I kept my mouth shut, he would bite me until I left a bite mark.
Eventually, he let me go after I showed my intention to surrender.
"Let's hear it. Why was it so dead?"
"Actually..."
I hesitated, then passed him and walked over to the dressing table.
After that, I took out the box that I had neatly placed inside.
It was a gift box wrapped in red paper with a gold ribbon.
Inside was a gift that I had been planning to throw away because I missed the chance to give it to Letie first.
When I handed over the box without saying a word, Kishian also accepted it without saying a word.
Then he looked at me as if checking if the gift he was giving me was right.
I nodded in agreement, and he finally pulled the ribbon to open the package.
A shiny black rabbit inside appeared.
Kishian looked at me as he carefully picked it up.
"This is...?"
"It's a gift. I bought it at the festival yesterday. I didn't have time to give it to you, so I kept it. But my sister gave it to you first..."
I thought that if I gave him a similar gift to Letie later, it would just seem boring, so I was thinking of just throwing it away.
I was in a bad mood throughout the meal because I was so upset that I had to throw away the gift I had worked so hard to buy, without even giving it to him.
"Before you gave this to me, I received a gift from someone else, and that's why you were so depressed?"
It was as he said. I hated the fact that Letie was showing a strange interest in Kishian, but the most important reason I was upset was that. The gift.
I hated that Letie gave him the gift before me.
When I actually heard it from his own mouth, the reason I was depressed seemed quite childish.
What was so depressing about this kind of gift? It was just a gift, so I could have given him something better later.
Maybe it was because the opponent was Letie.
I don't want to do that again, since that child has already taken so much from me.
Kishian stood still, holding a rabbit sculpture that was too cute compared to himself.
Was it really not that good? My cheeks felt hot belatedly.
"If you don't like it, I'll just throw it away."
As I reached out to snatch the rabbit from him, he immediately hid it behind him.
"Throw it away. Why is this cute thing?"
"It's not even that cute, and you already got the same thing."
"It's similar. This one's much cuter."
He held the rabbit tightly in his hand so that I could not take it away.
Then he suddenly hugged me.
A firm, warm body wrapped around my entire body without any gaps.
"How can I throw something this cute away?"
The one word he whispered made my cheeks and ears feel hot.
It was clearly something he said while looking at the rabbit sculpture, but somehow it sounded like something he said to me.
"And, didn't you see? The glass shard I received earlier was just taken by a servant."
"Did you give it to the servant?"
"I didn't really want to keep it, so I just handed it over to the attendant to take care of it."
Will you throw mine away later, too? As soon as that thought crossed my mind, Kishian whispered as if he had read my mind.
"Even though they are the same piece of glass, they are not the same at all. This one is much cuter, more lovely, and above all. It is because the one who gave it to me was you."
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